The words of the cardinal kept echoing in her mind.
Everything Millie had seen and heard along the way gradually connected together.
In the town, everywhere were voluptuous big-sister types with flushed, glowing faces. The closer one got to the temple, the more of them there were. Just now on the steps, she had even overheard some gossip.
“This time’s witch is really cute, huh?”
Millie had once suspected there was a witch inside the temple.
In truth, there were indeed “witches”—except they were framed.
Witch trials were utterly devoid of proper procedure. As long as someone in a high position declared you a witch, then you were a witch—no room for defense whatsoever.
The cardinal was using exactly that to threaten the girl.
If the girl refused to submit, then she was a witch.
Even if she did submit, it didn’t guarantee her name would be cleared.
Hadn’t the cardinal said it herself? Once she was done playing, she would toss Millie to the believers, using the pretext of “punishing a witch” to abuse her without restraint.
“Get away from me!!—”
Millie struggled desperately; the cardinal only grew more delighted.
“Scream all you want—the louder you are, the more excited I get!”
Millie clenched her fists. Her magic power suddenly erupted.
The golden chains shattered instantly. The cardinal was blasted backward several steps.
“Damn it, you really are a witch! Speak—what scheme are you plotting?!”
Before she could finish, the cardinal froze, unable to move.
Millie’s magic carried no trace of a witch’s aura—it was holy-attribute magic.
The cardinal looked at Millie again, and her face instantly drained of color. She had seen it before—in the Goddess Church’s grand temple in the holy capital.
Even though the hair color had changed, she recognized her:
This was the Saintess of the Goddess Church—and the one most skilled in slaughter, Millie!
The entire Gutram Temple was no match for her!
“Lady Millie… Lady Millie…!”
The cardinal dropped to her knees, kowtowing frantically in apology.
“This lowly one did not know it was you! This lowly one has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai, offending the Saintess—please, Lady Saintess, spare this lowly one just this once!”
“You filthy witch, daring to lay hands on this Saintess!”
“Huh?” The cardinal raised her head in confusion and panic. “I’m not a witch…”
“Still dare to quibble? You are a witch!”
“This… this… You can’t be completely unreasonable!”
Exactly—utterly unreasonable. Weren’t you the same just now?
In matters like this, as long as one has high status, one can act with impunity. If Millie declared her a witch, then even as a cardinal, she would be a witch.
And since she was a witch… couldn’t she just be killed on the spot?
“In your next life, be a better person!”
Millie swung her hand sharply. The cardinal tried to say something more, but no words came—only a thin red line appeared across her neck. Then her head tumbled to the ground.
Her body slowly collapsed, blood gushing forth.
Millie flicked the blood from her fingertips and gave a contemptuous smile.
Still, she didn’t leave. She needed to infiltrate deeper into the temple.
Her village-girl disguise clearly wouldn’t do anymore. Posing as a cardinal would make things much easier. Before becoming a Saintess, Millie herself had once been a cardinal.
In her dimensional storage still lay the robes from back then.
Millie went to a corner of the room and changed into the cardinal’s attire. The chest area felt a bit tight—she seemed to have grown again.
Mmm… they were already quite large, though…
Whatever. It didn’t matter. What mattered was investigating thoroughly.
One had to admit—the temple’s security was abysmal. Even an outsider sneaking in and disguising herself as a cardinal went completely unnoticed.
Passing by the confessional, Millie heard entwined, intimate sounds.
Through a crack in the door, an unbearable scene met her eyes.
The girl was clearly being forced; tears hung at the corners of her eyes. She bit her lip, enduring the bishop’s wanton actions while he spouted all sorts of nonsense.
“Baby, let me purify you properly~!”
Something along those lines. Millie genuinely wanted to kill her on the spot.
But she held back. She couldn’t cause a big commotion yet—she needed to gather evidence so she could wipe out this whole pack of scum later.
Millie used a recording stone to capture several photos.
Then she headed to the other side of the temple, where what should have been the infirmary was located.
Nuns skilled in healing magic would normally treat the townsfolk here.
Yet now it had become a den of crime.
At the corridor entrance stood a donation window. For a donation of 5 gold coins or more, one could enter the corridor. Every room along it held innocent girls locked inside.
The girls had their mouths gagged and were tied to the bedposts. Believers could do anything they wanted to them—even rough treatment was fine.
Officially, these girls were proclaimed witches.
The believers were merely “punishing witches”—nothing wrong at all.
In reality, the girls were mostly outsiders who had come to Gutram with no one to rely on. They were lured and deceived by the cardinals, gradually reduced to prisoners.
Millie took photos and carefully stored the evidence.
At that moment, someone finally noticed the suspicious figure.
“Esteemed lady, are you here for an inspection?”
The newcomer was a black-robed bishop who appeared to hold considerable rank. Millie tried to act natural and gave the black-robed bishop a cold glance.
“Indeed. I am here to inspect.”
“But… I don’t recall ever seeing you before?”
Millie was momentarily at a loss—her appearance was far too distinctive. Among the cardinals, sisterly young girls were already rare, let alone one with such generous proportions.
“Of course you haven’t. I was only recently transferred here.”
“My apologies, esteemed lady.” The black-robed bishop produced a jade tablet. “Would you kindly verify your identity? Things have been rather unstable around here lately.”
At the mention of identity verification, Millie immediately relaxed.
This jade tablet could only authenticate those of cardinal rank and above. As a Saintess, when she touched it, the reaction would be identical to a cardinal’s.
Millie casually placed her hand on it. The jade tablet emitted a faint green glow.
The black-robed bishop sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly knelt.
“My deepest apologies—I dared to doubt your identity!”
“No matter. I’m merely looking around.” Millie gestured toward the rooms with feigned seriousness. “What exactly is going on in there? It looks like improper conduct.”
“Well…” The black-robed bishop smiled. “The ones bound in those rooms are witches—or accomplices of witches. The believers are simply punishing them.”
“Oh? Shouldn’t they be burned at the stake?”
“They are heinous criminals. Before execution by fire, they must first experience a fate worse than death. That’s why the believers are allowed to punish them.”
“Aren’t you afraid the believers will be tainted by miasma?”
“No need to worry. Most of them are merely accomplices, not true witches. Even when there is a real witch, we take appropriate measures to prevent the miasma from spreading.”
Millie shot her a withering look.
Quite the rigorous explanation—covering not just witches but accomplices too?
Real witches could be easily verified. Accomplices, on the other hand, had a very hard time proving their innocence.
Whatever. Collect evidence first; deal with the rest later.
“I’m going to the archive room. Lead the way.”
Millie hadn’t forgotten—she was here to investigate the plague incident in Yoen Village.
She had simply stumbled upon this other matter by chance.
Still, the Yoen Village affair was already almost certainly connected. Since the temple was committing such unspeakable acts, they were probably also turning a blind eye to the village’s suffering.
“Er…” The black-robed bishop hesitated. “My apologies, this lowly one doesn’t actually know where the archive room is. Perhaps… you could ask the Grand Bishop…?”
Tch. Expert at shifting responsibility.
And now she seemed suspicious. Millie could no longer move freely.
“Kyaaahhh!!—”
At that moment, a scream echoed from the distance.
Judging by the direction, it was from the confessional area. They must have discovered the cardinal’s corpse. Time was running out.
“What’s happening over there?” Millie shouted with feigned urgency. “You—go check immediately and report back to me!”
“Uh… Yes, ma’am…!”
Rank had its privileges; the black-robed bishop had no choice but to obey.
The moment she left, Millie moved quickly.
The archive room didn’t seem to be on the first floor—she would have to go higher. Fortunately, a cardinal’s status was more convenient than expected. No one stopped her along the way.